Election 2025
The following questions were asked of each of the candidates for Mayor of Mount Prospect by the Daily Herald Editorial Board for the April 1, 2025 Election. Answers were capped at 200 words. Below are my answers to those questions.
Q1. Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you? Also, what makes you the best candidate for the position?
I serve solely out of “love” of community”. During my time as Mayor, the Village has been on a tremendous “Journey of Progress”. However, there is so much more that we can and need to do and as Mayor, I will continue to lead our Village forward on that “Journey”.
During my time as Mayor, we have experienced unprecedented growth and development. In addition, the Village’s property tax levy is down and vehicle stickers have been eliminated. Specifically, I am running for re-election to continue to champion our focus on “Citizen Safety”, protecting our residential neighborhoods, promoting sustainability, maintaining our fiscal responsibility and the careful spending of our tax dollars, and continuing down the path of growth and development.
I am uniquely qualified for the role of Mayor given my deep experience and my skill set related to municipal governance gained during my 34 years on the Village Board. As Mayor I will continue to drive our Village forward to new heights and keep our extremely positive “momentum and prosperity” going during the next 4 years.
Q2. What is the most serious issue your community will face in coming years and how should leaders respond to it?
The Village has been on a very positive upward trajectory of development and growth in the past 4 years generating significant new tax revenues with which to operate the Village as well as reduce our reliance on property taxes. To this point, the Village’s portion of the tax levy is down 11% in the past 2 years.
I believe one of the more serious issues we may have is finding ways to keep our positive momentum going in the coming years. Development in our downtown is “off the charts” with 8 new residential buildings completed or under construction. We also 5 new restaurants opened in 2024 alone. In South Mount Prospect, we have a number of significant new commercial buildings under construction or newly built. South Mount Prospect is poised for additional new development. Overall, Mount Prospect is the “Land of Opportunity”.
We, as leaders, must continue to support development-friendly policies and provide incentives, when necessary to keep development occurring and investment capital flowing. We also need to continue to create ongoing awareness with the development community and entrepreneurs regarding development and the opportunities to do business in Mount Prospect.
Q3. How would you describe the state of your community’s finances? What should be the top priorities for spending during the next few years? Are there areas of spending that need to be curtailed?
Bottom line, the Village of Mount Prospect’s financial condition is extremely strong. Frankly, the Village’s financial condition has never been stronger. Our financial position is so strong that I believe the Village may move from our current AA+ credit rating to a AAA rating during 2025.
The top priority for spending is Citizen Safety which I believe is absolutely Priority #1. Spending on police, fire, and paramedic services is paramount to keep our citizens safe. When someone needs police, fire, or paramedics to respond, there is nothing more important and there can be no compromise. I am living proof. In addition, we will spend on critical existing infrastructure maintenance, critical new infrastructure improvements, Human Services, and other various “quality of life” initiatives which help maintain our strong property values to keep Mount Prospect a desirable community where people want to live, work, do business, and raise their families.
Q4. What do you see as the most important infrastructure project you must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what project(s) can be put on the back burner?
The high-volume intersection located where Rand Road, Route 83, and Kensington Road cross is one of the busiest intersections in the Northwest suburbs. It is also one of the most difficult and time consuming to traverse.
The proposed improvements to this intersection are literally on the engineering drawing boards and we hopefully will be ready to be constructed in 2026. Working with the State and Federal governments, the Village must remain vigilant and laser-focused on seeing these improvements through to completion. These improvements are slated to be paid for in large part by State and Federal funds.
We recently addressed another major intersection bottleneck at Rand Road, Central Road, and Mount Prospect Road. The improvements to this intersection were completed in 2024 and have had a dramatically positive impact on traffic flow.
In general, the Village has consistently stayed on top of and ahead of infrastructure improvements. However, as part of our Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), Public Works maintains a list of projects in priority order. During difficult economic times we have and will cut projects which are less of a priority.
Q5. Describe your leadership style and explain how you think it will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions with your village board or city council.
I am a very open, approachable, and forthright leader with a well-known common-sense approach. While I am flexible and contemporary in my thought, I am also consistent. As a leader, I believe it is critical to receive citizen feedback on important issues. Finally, I see myself as “servant leader” willing to give of myself to continually improve our Village, to help our Village remain strong and desirable, to produce growth in the Village, and to ensure that we are providing our citizens with the things they want and need from their Village.
I am well respected by my fellow Board members because I am very interested to hear their differing viewpoints and thoughts on various issues under discussion. After all, it is “diversity of thought” that ultimately leads to the best decisions and courses of action.
Q6. What’s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?
The Community Connections Center (CCC) in South Mount Prospect was established 15 years ago to bring Village and Library resources to the citizens of South Mount Prospect. Having the CCC in place helps overcome language and transportation barriers, as well. The CCC gives South Mount Prospect residents who may have difficulty getting to Village Hall and the Library access to services closer to their homes. The Village is currently conducting a needs assessment and survey to understand how we might better serve these residents of South Mount Prospect, going forward.
No one is talking about the idea that we may need another Community Connections Center (CCC) to serve citizens of North Mount Prospect who need these same services and may have the same transportation difficulties and language barriers as the citizens in South Mount Prospect. I would propose that the Village begin to do the research to understand the needs of the citizens in North Mount Prospect and how the Village might better serve these citizens with a Community Connections Center nearer their homes in North Mount Prospect, as well.
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Historical . . . .
Election 2021
The following questions were asked of each of the candidates for Mayor of Mount Prospect by the Daily Herald Editorial Board for the April 6, 2021 Election. Answers were capped at 200 words. Below are my answers to those questions.
Q1. What is the primary reason you are running for office? What is the most important issue?
I am running for Mayor to promote growth through economic development which is key to a strong, vibrant, and financially sound community, to insure that our Village continues to provide high quality services such as police, fire, public works, and human services, to insure a transparent and open-minded Village government, and to maintain our Village’s strong fiscal position, keeping a lid on taxes, and spend every tax dollar wisely.
Economic growth is absolutely the biggest challenges facing the Village. The economic impact of the pandemic has been harsh. People have lost their jobs, businesses have had to close, and tax revenues are down. As the economy improves, we will need to create economic vitality in the Village. We will face this challenge head on by actively assisting our Commercial landlords to lease their open spaces and increasing proactive outreach to the business community through the Community Development Department all with the goal moving revitalization forward by helping prospective businesses understand that Mount Prospect is well located, has numerous throughfares carrying thousands of people through the Village daily, has excellent demographics, has a population of potential employees, and as a result, would be a great place to locate and do business.
Q2. How do you view your role in confronting the pandemic: provide leadership even if unpopular, give a voice to constituents – even ones with whom you disagree — or defer to state and federal authorities?
The role of the Mayor and the Village Board during the pandemic is to provide leadership to and ensure communication with the citizens of Mount Prospect with the goal of keeping people apprised of measures the Village is taking to keep people safe. While everyone might not agree with the decisions and direction the Village is moving, the Mayor and the Village Board is charged with making those hard decisions no matter how difficult and unpopular those decisions may be to make. In addition, it is the role of the elected officials to be in contact with the County, State, and Federal authorities to strongly advocate for the citizens of Mount Prospect and secure necessary resources needed by our community.
Q3. Did your town continue to adequately serve its constituents during the disruptions caused by the pandemic? If so, please cite an example of how it successfully adjusted to providing services. If not, please cite a specific example of what could have been done better.
I believe the Village and the Village staff did an exemplary job serving our residents during this difficult time brought on by the pandemic. In many ways, our Village never missed a beat in service to the residents. Initially, the Village needed to understand how to adjust to keep our citizens and staff safe by understanding the issues, concerns, and protocols and then they pivoted accordingly. Our front line first responders, who are at risk every day, have continued to admirably perform their roles and keep the people of Mount Prospect safe. Initially, the Village did shutdown face to face, in-person contact in public spaces. Relative to the Village Board, we quickly converted our weekly Village Board meetings to a virtual format so that we could continue to do the business of Mount Prospect in a safe fashion. As we navigated our way and better understood the science and the protections needed during the pandemic, we have gradually returned to appropriate in-person contact with the appropriate safety measures in place.
Q4. In light of our experiences with COVID-19, what safeguards/guidelines should you put in place to address any future public health crises?
Relative to Emergency Preparedness, we must add major long term public health crisis’s to the list of potential emergencies and plan accordingly. I do believe the length and severity of a crisis like the pandemic brings about a differential of thinking and level of preparedness needed. Many emergencies like a storm or an accident occur and are dealt with immediately. However, an emergency like COVID-19, impacts our community for an extended period of time which requires ongoing measures and significant longer term funding. The Village should have dedicated funding set aside for these types of elongated emergencies which we now understand could severely impact our community.
Q5. What cuts can local government make to reduce the burden of the pandemic on taxpayers?
First and foremost, keeping taxes and fees down during this time is essential. I supported and voted for a 0% increase to the tax levy in the last budget cycle and I would support a 0% increase to the tax levy for 2022. I also proposed a 0% increase to the tax levy for the 2020 budget but could not find the votes among my fellow Village Board members to pass a 0% increase levy. In addition, the Village has already suspended or reduced a number of fees which has been helpful. Finally, the Village may need to delay several additional “non-essential” capital projects budgeted for 2021 until the economy improves and funding is less tenuous in an effort not to overburden Village cashflows and ultimately our taxpaying citizens.
Q6. What do you see as the most important infrastructure project you must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what infrastructure project can be put on the back burner?
Flood control projects are among the most important and impactful infrastructure projects that we undertake. The Village recently completed a major project in the Village’s northwest area at Burning Bush Park. We have an additional flood control project at Aspen Trails Park coming up which will significantly help to keep water out of citizen’s homes during major storm events. There is absolutely nothing worse than having flood water come into your home from overland flooding. If you have ever been the victim of flooding, you know exactly what I mean. These flood remediation projects are generally funded by Federal and State grants as well as Village capital project funds funded by specifically dedicated tax sources.
While the Village tries to stay ahead of identified infrastructure maintenance of streets, water, and sewer, there are some specific infrastructure projects which can wait until economic times get better such as the Emerson Street Bridge Deck, Well # 4 Rehab, and some of our annual Tree Plantings. None of these projects are immediately essential, time sensitive, or if deferred, put people at risk.
Q7. Do you agree or disagree with the stance your municipality has taken on permitting recreational marijuana sales in the community? What would you change about that stance, if you could?
When recreational marijuana first became legal in Illinois, the Mount Prospect Village Board decided to take a “Wait and See” approach to observe what issues might arise from recreational marijuana sales by watching those municipalities which were first adopters of recreational marijuana sales.
In the summer of 2020, following this “Wait and See” period of time, I was the Village Trustee who brought forward the idea of a Village-wide ballot referendum to hear the voice of the people of Mount Prospect on this issue, directly. Through the referendum this past November, the people of Mount Prospect have officially and directly spoken. Prior to the referendum, I committed to listening to the voice of the people following the referendum and as a result, I voted in favor of moving forward with allowing the sale of Recreational Marijuana in Mount Prospect.
Q8. What’s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?
Mount Prospect has several large retail centers in the Village that have numerous vacant spaces. I believe the Village should take a much more active role in helping the retail landlords fill those vacant spaces. While we already have a façade and interior build out assistance program, going further to actually help market the unleased spaces with a goal of finding viable users could ultimately bring about a huge benefit to the citizens of Mount Prospect in the form of sales taxes and fees to the Village which would lessen the tax burden on the residential homeowner. Going one step further, given the dramatic and permanent changes in retailing, some properties may no longer be viable as a retail use. The Village should work with the owners of those retail centers to consider zoning and use changes with an eye toward redevelopment.
Kensington Business Center is a prime example of expanding uses. A few years ago, the Village Board broadened its thinking around the uses in the Business Center and as a result, we now have numerous uses beyond light industrial and office such as the Mount Prospect Ice Arena. Overall vacancy rates in the Business Center are now extremely low.
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